Bittersweet
by Kaku
Summary: Mirajane the matchmaker, Valentine's Day and a jealous water mage. Lucy just wanted to have some time to relax. How did she end up stuck in a kitchen with Natsu covered in chocolate? Lucy x Natsu. One-shot.


**AN:** I actually started writing this before there was even a **Fairy Tail** section on FF.N, but something happened (and far be it for me to remember what it was) and I wandered off away from this idea. I'm guessing it was sometime in late January since it has a Valentine's Day theme to it, but I'm sure I didn't have the intention of writing it for Valentine's day, it just... turned out that way at the time :D I wonder if you can tell that this story was written at two totally different times? If you can tell where I stopped and started up again, I'll be amazed :x because I guess that means my writing would be that telling?

Yes, it's probably a little OOC so I apologize for that.

Anyway, this is just a little Lucy x Natsu one-shot. I apologize for the grammar and spelling mistakes, but I hope despite all that you still enjoy it :D

**Warnings**: Probably slight spoilers up to chapter 66? Chapter 67?

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Fairy Tail.

* * *

**Bittersweet**

* * *

Mirajane turned to find the upper half of Lucy's body sprawled out across the mahogany bar top much like a rag doll. Her blonde hair was askew and her lips pursed in a sour expression. Mirajane found it difficult to hold back the giggle bubbling from her throat. Lucy arched her brows as she strained to look up at the older girl, her attention caught by Mirajane's muffled laughter, without actually having to move. This proved too much for Mirajane as her laughter finally passed from her lips.

It sounded like the chiming of bells and soothed Lucy's mood rather than giving rise to any sort of negativity, but she continued to hold her pout and lowered her eyes to stare at a questionable looking stain a few inches away from her face.

"I'm sorry," Mirajane began as her laughter subsided, "but you look so adorable!"

"Adorable?" Lucy repeated slowly. "Thank you, I guess."

"Yes, quite child-like." Mirajane ventured on, smiling at the younger girl warmly. "I suppose you're bored?"

"Not so much bored as I am _dead tired_." Lucy stressed out her last words with a long and heart-felt sigh, her eyes closing in exhaustion.

"Oh?" Mirajane paused in her cleaning to put down her finished glass and picked up a new one. "You should go home and rest. I'm sure Natsu and the others will understand--"

"No way, no way!" Lucy moaned, turning her face into the counter, her voice becoming muffled as she raised her arms to cover her head.

"Whether I'm here or at home, they'll be there. I can't escape, I mean, I could use the money, but it seems like all we're doing is charity work." Lucy removed her arms to raise her head. "Don't get me wrong. I love helping people, but I need to pay the rent too, and it doesn't help when most of the rewards go to the repairs on the damage _they_ cause! "

"Well, I'm sure Natsu or Gray would be happy to--"

"Please don't, Mira-san." Lucy said quickly, her head falling back to the counter top. "Just, don't."

"Hm?" She continued to clean the glass in her hands. "Wouldn't they help you out?"

Mirajane and Lucy both knew full and well what the older girl was suggesting, but rather than dwell on it, Lucy let out a dry laugh before straightening up and turning away from the bar.

"Maybe I will just go home."

Mirajane gave an empathetic sigh as she set down the finished glass, viewing Lucy's honestly exhausted expression. She slowly slid off her stool and stumbled to her feet, giving Mirajane a half-hearted wave.

It was when Lucy stepped passed the bulletin board that something caught Mirajane's eye. At once she had found the stumbling girl from behind the counter and called after her.

"Lucy, wait!"

The younger girl stopped, turning with an expression of bewilderment when Mirajane managed to clasp their hands together.

"I have a better idea." Mirajane smiled at her brightly. "Won't you come shopping with me?"

"Shopping?"

* * *

"Chocolate?" Lucy repeated in surprise.

"Mmhm. Doesn't that sound wonderful?" Mirajane was visibly brimming with excitement as they headed back to guild with bags of sweets on their arms.

"I guess." Lucy agreed reluctantly, then quickly turned to Mirajane with a sheepish grin. "But you see, I'm actually on a diet, so really--"

"Oh, don't be silly. Why do you need to be on a diet? You're much too young!"

_And how old are you?_ Lucy thought in amusement at Mirajane's statement. Often, Lucy felt that Mirajane was the maternal figure of the guild, despite her age. It gave her great comfort to have someone as wonderful as Mirajane to put her trust in, but at times she wondered if Mirajane knew that she was still quite young herself.

"Besides, this isn't just for us. Don't you know what tomorrow is?"

Lucy could only look at Mirajane and shake her head.

"Valentine's day." Mirajane said simply, her eyes shining to prove that there was something more behind her words.

_Ah, that's better_, Lucy thought in slight exasperation. _She is still a young girl at heart_. _Or just like a meddling mother..._

"Oh, is that so?" Lucy asked lightly as they entered the guild that was just a boisterous as they had left it.

"Yes! I was thinking we could make some chocolates for everyone to pick up their spirits after all that's happened."

Lucy's steps faltered. It was only for a split second, but Mirajane caught the break in her stride and quickly turned to the younger woman and stood in her path, causing Lucy to stop. In turn Lucy only regarded Mirajane with a perplexed look and forced a smile on her face.

"Lucy, that's not what I meant--"

"I know," Lucy interrupted, causing Mirajane to stare at her in surprise. "I know. It's just, I still feel guilty and it was my fault--"

"Lucy--" Mirajane said sharply, but Lucy shook her head.

"I know." She repeated, smiling. "I understand. I would do the same for any of you, I know that."

At that Mirajane smiled and gently took Lucy's hands, tugging her towards the kitchen area of the guild. Lucy stumbled at the sudden energy in Mirajane, but followed with little complaint.

"And you can show everyone that by making then chocolates!" Mirajane said as they entered the kitchen.

"All right." Lucy agreed hesitantly as they laid their packages onto the table. _Because nothing says _'Thanks for risking your lives for me_,' any better than chocolate_, she thought to herself humorously.

"And you could certainly give some to Master, Happy--" Mirajane continued as she removed the different items from their shopping bags.

_Can he even _have_ chocolate?_ Lucy asked herself as set out to remove her own goodies from the packages. _I'm sure he'd appreciate a fish sandwich a lot more._

"--Levi, Erza, oh and of course," Mirajane beamed at Lucy, "Gray and Natsu."

_There it is. _"Yeah, I guess so." Lucy returned her smile weakly as she finished emptying her bags.

"Ah." Mirajane placed a hand to her face as she looked back at their purchases.

"What's wrong?" Lucy questioned, glancing over at the table only to be pushed out the door by Mirajane. "Wha-?!"

"I forgot to buy bitter chocolate. Will you be a dear and go buy some from the store across the river?"

"What? Mirajane, we have dark chocolate--" Lucy tried to hold onto the doorframe to keep from being pushed out of the kitchen. She let go to use one hand to point at the many different kinds of chocolate they had bought sitting quite innocently on the table in the middle of the room.

"No, no." Mirajane shook her head, using Lucy's distraction to force her back into the main room. "I didn't buy the Love-Love brand! That's the best kind!"

"Love... Love-Love brand?" Lucy repeated flatly, her brow twitching. "Why Love-Love--"

"I'm counting on you!" And the door slamming in her face was the last word she got from Mirajane. Unable to do more than stand there and gape at the door, Lucy had no choice but to head over to the store and buy Mirajane's infamous 'Love-Love' brand chocolate.

* * *

A young woman in dark colored winter wear stood tall with a bulging sack three times her size hanging from her shoulders, effectively blocking the aisle she stood in at the confectionary store she stood in. The boxes that showed through the top of the bag were labeled with ridiculous brand names concerning the subject of 'love' and 'chocolate.' Her lips were pressed into a thin line as she studied the brands in front of her.

"Ah, ma'am? Do you need any help?"

Jubia turned sharply to the clerk who flinched away at the intense stare she gave him. Although she was pretty, the clerk pitied the poor fool that was the target of this woman's affections.

Jubia considered the man smiling at her sheepishly and opened her mouth to give a reply when something caught her eye. Or more accurately, _someone_.

Lucy Heartphilia.

Jubia felt her blood boil and the clerk could have sworn he heard the sound of thunder rumbling in the distance.

"Hold this." Jubia shoved the giant bag of chocolates at the clerk, who was nearly crushed by the weight as he stumbled back, becoming pinned by the sack and pressed into the shelves behind him.

_Lucy, Jubia's rival in love!_ She thought through clenched teeth as she immediately followed after her.

Lucy felt as if all eyes were on her as she stood by the dark chocolate sections, her face becoming increasingly warmer as she scanned through all the title brands and their descriptions. Some promised to help you find true love, others promised to keep you with your loved one forever, and there were some that she didn't even want to remember what they did.

_This is stupid_, Lucy thought in embarrassment. _Really, Mirajane. What are you trying to do?_

Too caught up in her thoughts, it was no wonder that Lucy didn't notice Jubia's seething rage emitting through the store as she watched Lucy from another aisle away. Indeed, all eyes were on Lucy, but for different reasons.

"Hello ma'am." The same clerk that had offered to help Jubia greeted Lucy, his steps a little unsteady as he held the shelf to keep his balance. "Is there anything you need help with?"

"Ah, no--well, yes." Lucy's eyes darted from side to side, as if searching for someone who might have been listening (Jubia quickly darted away when Lucy's gaze settled in her direction). "Well, um, do you have..."

The rest of her words were mumbled under her breath, inaudible to the clerk.

"Sorry?" The clerk said, blinking as he leaned closer.

"Do you have..." Lucy quickly ducked her head as the rest of her words were mumbled out. The clerk had to strain his ears, but the most he could make out was something along the lines of 'rabubukalate."

"I'm sorry, could you repeat th--"

"_Love-Love Chocolate_." Lucy hissed.

The nearby aisle shook, but it went unnoticed as the clerk pulled back and smiled knowingly.

"Oh, _that_." He smiled and turned to the shelf picking out the last box that was just out of Lucy's reach. "You're in luck, it seems to be our last box."

"Lucky me." Lucy mumbled sarcastically under her breath but smiled at the clerk and thanked him before heading to the cashier.

The clerk chuckled to himself but had only a split second to enjoy it before Jubia had pinned him to the shelf with both her hands clenched into the material of his apron, causing all the boxes to fall to the ground. Her expression was dark and the steady rumble of thunder was growing in volume.

The clerk couldn't hold back a whimper as Jubia growled out her demand, "_Give Jubia that chocolate_."

* * *

_Really_, Lucy thought in exasperation as she headed back to the guild. Even the cashier, a middle-aged woman, had given her a hard time as she giggled like a school girl and winked at Lucy.

_"This is a very popular product."_

_"So I'm told." Lucy agreed as she handed over the money._

_"I'm sure you'll definitely get his attention."_

_"Ah, no, it's not for me." Lucy regretted her words the moment they left her mouth. She shouldn't have even bothered explaining._

_"Ah, of course! I see." The woman gave another exaggerated wink as she handed over the package. Before Lucy could grab it the cashier slipped in a business card into it. "Take this too, it's quite popular among single girls."_

The business card had information to a local apothecary with its number one selling product of 'love potions' guaranteed to get the attention of your love interest. She held back a growl as she crumpled the card and threw it at the foot of Fairy Tail's entrance before entering the guild. Of all the nerve...

Did she look that desperate to get a boyfriend?

A table flew passed her overhead, but so lost in her thoughts she barely took notice.

Lucy opened the door that lead to the kitchen, her eyes downcast as she held up the bag to Mirajane.

"Here's your chocolate." She said rather grumpily.

"Yo."

Lucy's head jerked up so fast that her neck was in danger of whiplash as she stared at her greeter with wide-eyes.

It was not Mirajane.

"Ah, Lucy! Thank you so much." Lucy could only gape at the presence of Natsu as Mirajane appeared from behind her, placing her hands on her shoulders. "And look! Natsu so graciously volunteered to help you make the chocolates."

Natsu paid no attention as he grabbed the bag from Lucy, opening it to reveal its contents. At the action, Lucy snapped back to reality as she let out a shrill cry, nearly tackling the fire mage in an attempt to grab the bag. Natsu could only stare at her, startled by her outburst as she pushed him away, holding the bag to her chest as if it were her most precious treasure (when it was actually the exact opposite). It was then that Mirajane's words penetrate through to her consciousness.

_"...help you make the chocolates."_

_Help me?!_

"What?!" Natsu and Lucy shouted at the same time, but for very different reasons as Natsu focused his irritated gaze on Lucy and Lucy stared over at Mirajane in horror.

"Don't worry, Natsu. That's just Lucy's very special chocolate." Mirajane winked at Lucy, causing the other girl's jaw to drop in horror.

"Special?"

"Why? Why? Why?" Lucy babbled continuously, pointing first at Mirajane and then at Natsu.

"Ah, well you see the stove is broken, but since Natsu's a fire mage he can help melt the chocolates to reshape them--"

"But... you..." Lucy stuttered as Natsu only nodded in affirmation to Mirajane's reasoning.

"And I actually have some errands to run so I'll leave this to you for a while, okay?" Without waiting for a reply, Mirajane waved and shut the door behind herself with a soft chuckle.

"What's going on?"

Mirajane started and turned around rather guiltily. She looked down to find Happy at her feet, his eyes wide as he looked at her and then at the door behind her. Mirajane merely smiled crouched down to his eye level.

"Just trying to do something nice for the guild."

"Aye?" Happy tilted his head to the side. "What are you doing?"

"You'll see." Mirajane said a slightly sing-song tone of voice as she hummed to herself and headed towards the guild's entrance.

Happy's brows furrowed and his tail twitched rapidly from side to side as followed after her.

"Where's Natsu?"

"You'll see him around, I'm sure." Mirajane said with a smile. "And things will work out for the better."

"Aye?" Happy looked up at her in confusion, opting to use his magic to form wings on his back and glided after her.

"But if it doesn't," Mirajane looked thoughtful as she held the door open for him and stepped outside. "I can always get Gray to help Lucy to harden the chocolates."

"Aye?" Happy blinked after her, still utterly lost. "What are you talking about?"

"Just helping Lucy." Mirajane smiled. "So you'll help me with my errands, Happy?"

Mirajane's voice trailed off as Happy followed after her, both disappearing out of sight and oblivious of the ominous presence looming just outside Fairy Tail's doors. Dark clouds collected overhead and the rumbling of thunder seemed to shake the very ground as Jubia stepped out of the shadows, her eyes full of determination as she took a purposeful step to the guild's entrance. She stopped when she heard something crumple beneath her foot. She lifted it and bent down to pick up the crushed card, slowly opening it up.

The pale woman's face quickly filled with color as she stared at the card, gripping it tightly. The sounds of footsteps caught her attention before she could do anything more and Jubia looked towards the direction they were coming from, horrified at the idea of being discovered and quickly shoved the card into her coat pocket and darted into an alleyway.

"Why the hell am I your chore boy for the day?" A familiar voice caught Jubia's attention and her face flushed as she peeked around the corner.

_Gray-sama_..._!_

"Did you have something else to do?" Ezra asked, swinging her long fiery red hair over her shoulder, clad in her usual armor as Gray appeared next to her, holding a bag over his shoulder with a scowl.

"No." Gray admitted grudgingly as he kicked open the entrance to the guild.

"The sooner we find Natsu and Lucy, the sooner we can do another job." Ezra said as she followed after him.

"Why do you always want us..." Gray's voice trailed off as the door swung close. Jubia peeked out of her hiding place, her determination burning at the sound of Gray's voice and the mention of Lucy's name. Her eyes narrowed, turning away as she took a moment to think.

_Jubia __can't go in with Gray-sama there, but Jubia can't let him meet Lucy and receive her Love-Love chocolate!_ She thought with dismay, walking up and down the alley.

"What can Jubia do?" She asked herself with a frown, her eyes traveling along the sides of the guild when she caught sight of a window.

_Maybe..._

* * *

"What's with you?" Natsu asked in irritation as Lucy continued to clutch the bag, her entire body trembling with barely suppressed anger as she glared at the closed door.

_Mira-san_...

"Whatever, I'm just here to provide the fire." Natsu said, forming a flaming fist to emphasize his point.

"Why are you being so generous?" Lucy asked vehemently as she whirled around, startling the young man and causing him to extinguish the flame he had created. With Mirajane gone, Natsu was the only plausible source to focus her anger on since he was indirectly responsible for her discomfort.

"Mira said you guys were making chocolate for tomorrow." Natsu said, then grinned. "And she said I would get something special."

_Special, my ass_, Lucy thought angrily as she slammed the bag onto the table, resisting the urge to pull at her hair. _Why, Mira-san... why_?

"But if it's chocolate made by you, I don't know if I want to eat it." Natsu said slyly, deliberately baiting her. He snickered as Lucy took it and threw one of the boxes still sitting on the table.

"_Then don't eat it_." Lucy shouted, turning away sharply to pull out various cooking utensils and setting them on to the table.

"Ingrate." Lucy shot at him for good measure as she pulled up her hair into a bun to keep from getting in her way and rolled up her sleeves.

"I like bitter chocolate." Natsu said, ignoring her insult.

"Who asked you?" Lucy felt her face burn as her eyes darted to the package of dark chocolate Mirajane had sent her to fetch.

_It'll be a cold day in hell when I make that for him,_ Lucy thought to herself fiercely. Not wanting to stain her clothes, she went in search of an apron, finding a few in a cupboard near the end of the room. She found most were ridiculously cute or suggestive with sayings such as '_I Kiss Better Than I Cook,'_ or '_The Kitchen is Seasoned with Love_,' which she clearly chose to stay away from. In the end, she chose one with a cute design of a kitten on the front.

"Here." Lucy held out another apron to Natsu with a smirk.

"What the hell?" He stared at the offered protection blankly before his face twisted into a look of disgust. "I'm not wearing that!"

"So you'd rather get chocolate all over your clothes?" Lucy asked, arching a brow before adding, "Since you wear the same thing all the time, I doubt you'd want to risk it."

"Are you that clumsy that you'll get chocolate over all my clothes?" Natsu shot back, but grabbed the frilly pink apron decorated with hearts. "Then again, since it's _you_..."

Lucy would have shot back another retort, but the sight of him wearing that apron was priceless. Lucy had to bite down on her knuckles to keep from bursting out into laughter as Natsu's face started to glow at her obvious amusement.

"You look so cute." Lucy managed through her giggles. "I'm sure Gray and Ezra would _love_ to see this-"

"Let's get this over with!" Natsu snarled, cutting her off. He quickly grabbed one of the boxes from the bags and shoved it into her hands.

Lucy's laughter subsided, but she continued to grin at him until her eyes fell on the box in her hands. Her smile immediately disappeared as she found herself staring at the Love-Love chocolate that she had been sent out to get earlier. When she only continued to stare at the box, Natsu frowned and reached over to take it from her.

"What are you waiting for? Do you need me to--"

"_No_!" Lucy cried out, jerking it out of his reach. He looked at her in surprise and she laughed nervously as she fumbled to open the box, making sure she tore across the brand name. "I-I can do it."

"Here, heat this--_and don't melt it_." Lucy warned as she handed him the metal bowl, placing the chocolate onto a cutting board and pulling out a kitchen knife.

"Whatever." Natsu took the bowl with a bored look on his face as he heated it. With little to do but hold it, he pulled up a stool and rested an elbow on the table, his cheek resting on his open palm as he watched Lucy finely chop the chocolate. His eyes were hooded as he surveyed her. She seemed immersed in her task, her brows furrowed and the tip of her tongue sticking out from between her teeth. A strand fell across her face and she blew at it distractedly only to have it fall back into place. Natsu couldn't help but smirk at the sight, but he quickly dropped it when she suddenly looked up at him.

"Okay, let's see how this works out." Lucy said as she lifted the board and scrapped off the chocolate into the bowl. She set it aside and looked into the bowl, watching as it slowly began to melt into a rich, thick liquid, causing her to smile.

"Ah, don't!" Lucy slapped Natsu's hand away when he attempted to taste it.

"Why not?" Natsu scowled, shaking his stinging hand. "I'm helping you, aren't I?"

"If you eat it now, what's the point?" Lucy scolded him, slapping his hand when he tried again. "There won't be any left if you eat it now! Can't you just wait?"

"It's just a taste, Lucy. Stingy." Natsu stuck his tongue out at her and she grabbed one of his cheeks, pinching hard. He yelped, slapping a hand to his face just as Lucy pulled it away, causing himself to cry out as he made his injury worse. He scowled when Lucy stuck out her tongue at him in victory and just to rub it in his face, she grabbed a piece of the chocolate that had broken off when she had been cutting the chocolate bar earlier and popped it into her mouth.

She moaned in delight, smirking as Natsu's jaw dropped.

"_Hey-_" He began angrily, starting to rise from his seat, but Lucy took another piece and pushed it passed his lips, startling him back down into his seat.

"Here." Lucy said, rolling her eyes with a smile, letting her fingers linger on his mouth a moment longer than necessary. Natsu grudgingly took the piece, but his eyes took on a mischievous glint just before his tongue slipped out to catch the remains left on his lips, shocking Lucy as she felt it brush against her fingers. Her face burned as she turned away, holding her hand to her chest as she looked over her shoulder, a scowl on her lips. He smirked at her in response, licking his lips once more and grinned when she grimaced and turned away.

"What are you going to shape it as?" Natsu asked after a moment, satisfied that he had the upper hand and brought her gaze to meet his. She brought her hand to her hip, her face still flushed as she rubbed it against her apron, thoughts along the lines of '_boys,_' and '_cooties_.'

"Oh, right, shapes." She blinked as his words finally registered and turned to the bags. She began to sweat as she searched them, only to pull out box after box of different kinds of chocolate. After a minute of searching, it didn't take Natsu long to come to the obvious conclusion.

"You didn't buy any, did you?"

"No." Lucy said in disappointment as she stared at the boxes in her hands. "What was the point of buying all of this?!"

"Don't ask me." Natsu shrugged, earning himself a glare.

"You could be at least a little sympathetic!" Lucy hissed, before abandoning the bags to search the kitchen. "There's got to be _something_."

Natsu watched in amusement as Lucy proceeded to tear the room apart, various pots and pans flying about as she did. A few times he shifted in order to avoid getting hit as Lucy's actions became wilder and her frustration grew.

"Ah! Damn it!" Lucy whirled around, a metal pan in her hands. "There isn't anything!"

"I could have told you that." Natsu said unnecessarily.

"_Then why didn't you?!_" Lucy cried out angrily, but soon her anger gave way to exhaustion as she fell to the floor, letting the pan drop as she folded her arms over her knees that were brought up to her chest, hugging them tightly. "I just wanted to do a nice thing for everyone. Why did it have to turn out this way?"

Natsu watched as Lucy buried her face against her knees before his eyes focused on the pan lying on the ground.

"Come on, stop being so pathetic." He said as he placed the bowl on the stove and walked over to her, picking up the pan and looking it over.

She looked up at him sharply, "What did you say?"

Instead of answering her, Natsu continued to look over the pan before bringing his hand up to heat the metal. Lucy watched in confusion as the pan started to glow red, his hands obscuring what he was doing until the coloring faded away and she was able to see the outcome of his magic. Amazed, Lucy jumped to her feet.

"You reshaped the pan!" Lucy said excitedly as she stared at the simple circle shape Natsu had made by melting a section of the metal and molding it with his fire magic. "This is great!"

"Right?" Natsu grinned as he moved to create another shape in the pan, choosing a star. "See? It's too early to give up."

"I'll look for more pans!" Lucy said smiling widely. "You're pretty useful after all."

"You're pretty rude." Natsu scowled, but Lucy only laughed and collected the other pans around the room, handing them to Natsu.

"Hey, Natsu." Lucy watched as he continued to mold the pans and he grunted in response.

"What?"

"Do you think you can make the guild's symbol?" Lucy asked him, almost mesmerized by his magic.

"Our symbol?" He paused, looking at her with an arched brow. "Why?"

"Well, I want to make this as a 'thank you' to everyone, even though it's not much, but," Lucy smiled. "I think it'd show how important I think Fairy Tail is to me, you know?"

"I see." Natsu grinned back, turning to the pan with a look of concentration. "All right, sounds like a plan."

* * *

Now in relatively high spirits, Natsu and Lucy became immersed in their work. Neither noticed a face peaking through the window. Jubia bit her lip as she recognized Lucy and her eyes darted to the table filled with chocolate boxes of different colors and sizes.

_Lucy is already..._ Jubia dropped out of sight, her hand raised to her mouth in dismay. She got up and chanced another look, her eyes catching sight of the opened box lying by a bowl of melted chocolate and her eyes widened.

_It's the Love-Love chocolate_! Jubia thought angrily, steam already starting to rise. The clouds above darkened and the thunder rumbled louder than ever, but movement quickly caught her attention and Jubia ducked down when Natsu turned to the window in order to pick up the bowl filled with the bitter chocolate.

"Is it raining?"

Jubia stiffened as she heard Lucy's voice, her eyes shifting up to see Lucy at the window and looking up at the sky. When she moved away from the window, Jubia breathed a sigh of relief. She pulled out her own box of chocolate--still angry at the fact that Lucy had managed to retrieve the one chocolate that was guaranteed to work!--and looked at it in distress as she raised a hand to her lips, pressing them in thought.

_Lucy's going to beat Jubia in giving Gray-sama Valentine's chocolates!_ Jubia thought to herself, continuing to stare at the box in desperation. _Jubia must not let Lucy win!  
_

As she continued to stare at the box, willing the answers to come to her, her eyes caught sight of text written in bright red and boldly printed in large block letters just below the ingredients. On it, she read the warning to herself, her eyes widening before they narrowed and a wicked smile graced her lips.

_**Keep away from water**_.

* * *

"Not too shabby, if I do say so myself!" Lucy said proudly as she leaned back, smiling as she wiped her sweating brow with her wrist to avoid smearing her face with chocolate.

"We're not done." Natsu reminded her as he ran a finger along the rim of the bowl to taste it.

"I know that--Hey!" Lucy grabbed the bowl from him, scowling as he popped his chocolate covered finger into his mouth. She moved to the sink and reached for the water faucet's handle. "Would you stop-"

Lucy's next words took the form of a sharp cry as she dropped the bowl, backing away with her arms raised over her face to shield herself from the spurt of water shooting out from the sink.

"What did you do?!" Natsu yelled as he quickly jumped out of the way to avoid being soaked.

"I didn't do anything! I didn't even touch it!" Lucy managed to cough out when the entire counter began to shake before the sink's faucet shot off and a fountain of water shot forth from the opening. Lucy gasped, then turned to the chocolates that still had yet to solidify. "The chocolates!"

Natsu glanced at her as she moved quickly to grab the pans, before his eyes caught sight of the metal faucet descending towards Lucy, his eyes widening.

"Hey!" Natsu yelled to her, already moving forward. Lucy turned to him in surprise, holding both pans, her own eyes widening as he lunged towards her.

"What are you-" Lucy cried out as he crashed into her, both of them tumbling to the other side of the room and away from the onslaught of water. The faucet hit the table with a loud clang, passing right through the place Lucy had been standing.

Lucy was sprawled on the ground, her hair loosened from its messy bun. The first thing she was aware of was the pain shooting up her back, but as she tried to shift back up, she realized that Natsu was on top of her, his breath loud and harsh against her ear. She stiffened at the sensation of his breath against her skin and his body pressed against the length of her own, painfully aware that they were both soaking wet and covered in chocolate. She bit her lip when she felt him move against her, closing her eyes when he looked over his shoulder.

"That was dangerous." Natsu mumbled, sighing as he turned to look at Lucy, a mixture of chocolate and water dripping from his hair and onto her cheek, causing her to open her eyes. "You okay?"

"If you would get off me." Lucy mumbled, hoping her face wasn't burning as much as she felt it was. "You're heavy."

"Oh, sorry." Natsu pushed himself onto his knees, allowing Lucy to sit up and pull her legs from under him.

"What was that?" Natsu asked, staring at the water that had been gushing out only moments before and was now dying down into a small trickle.

"I don't know." Lucy sighed, pushing her hair from her face as she looked over at the pans sadly. "But everything's _ruined_."

Natsu turned to her, surprised to see such a desolate expression on her face when she turned to look at him. She quickly smiled instead, shrugging her shoulders.

"Thanks, anyway." Lucy said, forcing a laugh. "I guess I can try again at home-"

Lucy stopped, blinking when Natsu brought his hand up to her face. In reflex, Lucy started to pull away in surprise, but he caught her, his thumb traveling down the length of her cheek. She shivered at the feeling of feeling his rough, calloused skin against her soft, yielding flesh, nearly closing her eyes in response. Her eyes widened, however, when he grinned at her and licked his thumb.

"It tastes pretty good." He chuckled, licking some of the chocolate from his wrist as well. "And I understand your feelings. You don't have to worry, Lucy. Everyone knows you love the guild. We all do."

He continued to laugh and Lucy's gaze softened. She raised a hand to touch the place his hand had been, before moving to her lips and feel the mixture of chocolate and water there. No longer caring that she was soaking wet and shivering from the cold, covered in chocolate and that all their hard work had been ruined, she shifted closer to Natsu. In that moment, all she could see was him and all she could feel was the warmth he always seemed to emanate that touched her in more than just a physical sense.

"Hey, Natsu," Lucy pulled her hand away from her lips and reached out to him. She didn't know if it was because she was tired or because everything was ruined and it seemed so unreal or maybe it really _was_ the Love-Love chocolate, but whatever it was, she found herself asking, "You said you liked bitter chocolate, right?"

"Yeah?" Natsu's laughter died down and he slowly focused his attention back on Lucy. "What-"

Natsu stopped, eyes wide when he felt Lucy's touch, her hand sliding up the side of his face. He opened his mouth with the intention of asking her what she was doing, but was cut off when her lips found his. It was soft and chaste, the barest of touches and lasted for only a brief moment. He blinked when she pulled away, her hand dropping as she ducked her head away from his gaze, his stomach twisting as warmth began to spread throughout his body, originating from where she had touched him.

"How was that?" Lucy managed to ask, feeling a hundred times less confident than her words suggested as she was still unable to meet his gaze.

"Too sweet."

Lucy's head shot up, eyes wide at his reply. He grinned at her as his hand reached out to brush against her face.

"But I guess that's okay." Natsu said before reaching to the back of her neck, his other hand grabbing her wrist and pulling her forward.

Lucy barely had time to gasp before Natsu sealed his lips over hers in kiss that was anything but chaste. He took advantage of her parted lips, his tongue slipping passed them as he took in her gasp and explored her mouth. Lucy's wide eyes slowly became hooded before closing entirely as his lips moved over hers. Lucy raised her free arm to touch his face, feeling his grip tighten against the back of her neck. They broke away from each other for only a moment as Natsu moved his hand from her wrist to slip around her waist, pulling her flushed body against him and crushed her mouth against his once more, his other hand moving to free the rest of her hair from its bun. Lucy moaned, urging him on as she raised her own hands to tangle into his rosy locks just as his arm around her waist pulled back, slipping his hand under her shirt-

"Lucy, Natsu!"

Like a bucket of ice cold water, Mirajane's voice broke through her heady state and brought Lucy crashing back to reality. In the blink of an eye, Lucy broke away from Natsu, shoving him and causing him to tumble away and stare at her in complete bewilderment just before the door opened.

"How's everything--Oh my!" Mirajane dropped the bags in her hands as she stared at the state of the room and its occupants.

"Mi-Mira-san!" Lucy managed to stutter, on her feet quickly as she pointedly ignored Natsu, stepping over him to the older woman.

"Oh my." Mirajane repeated, walking over to the table and picking up the faucet, then turned to look at Lucy and survey her current state. Covered in chocolate and soaking wet, she noticed a heavy blush across her cheeks and glanced at Natsu, who was in a similar state, but he merely stood up and brushed off his clothes. She smiled as Lucy flustered over her explanation.

"The faucet... I don't know how, but it broke and the chocolate got ruined--I'm really sorry-"

"It's all right." Mirajane said soothingly. "You two seemed to have had an eventful afternoon."

"I think I'm going to give up on the chocolates for now." Lucy said with a sheepish smile. If there hadn't been the convenient rumbling of thunder, they would have heard a victorious cry just outside the window. "But I'll help clean up-"

"No, it's fine." Mirajane smiled. "I can handle it, it's my fault for leaving you two alone. I should have known..."

_What is that supposed to mean?_ Lucy thought to herself briefly, but quickly flashed Mirajane a grateful smile.

"Are you sure?" Lucy asked again, although she wanted nothing more than to run back to her apartment and hide for the remainder of the century, doing her best to avoid looking at Natsu as her face continued to burn.

"Yes, it's fine." Mirajane said as Natsu stood up and used his fire magic to dry off his clothes. "You look exhausted."

"Thank you, Mira-san!" Lucy smiled, but it faltered at her next words.

"Natsu, why don't you walk her home?"

_Mira-san..._ Lucy closed her eyes, "It's fine. I don't need to be walked home."

Without waiting for a response, she thanked Mirajane again and dashed out the door, nearly bowling over Happy as she did.

"Did anything happen between you two?" Mirajane asked, feigning innocence as she turned to Natsu.

"Not really." Natsu shrugged, licking at his thumb when he saw a trace of chocolate left. Licking his lips, he grinned at Mirajane.

"Still sweet."

* * *

**AN**: Anyone else a little bummed out about the lack of NatsuxLucy fanfiction (or the lack of Fairy Tail fanfiction period)? Reviews always appreciated :D I hope you enjoyed it


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